Kaupthing Leaks Expose Unusual Lending Practices

From WikiLeaks

The bank at the heart of Iceland’s financial collapse, Kaupthing, lent billions of pounds to companies linked to a key director and top shareholders, The Daily Telegraph reported, citing leaked internal documents.

The papers are said to appear to cast light on the bank’s highly unusual lending practices just two weeks before the Icelandic system failed last October.

Its highest loans, which total more than 6.4 billion euros, were given to companies connected to just six clients, four of whom where major shareholders in the company. Some of the loans were made with partial or no collateral, the largest of which was given to Exista, its biggest shareholder.

The bank was also lending millions of pounds to individuals and holding companies so that they could buy shares in Kaupthing itself, the papers are said to reveal.

Among some of the bank’s biggest borrowers, were companies connected to Lydur Gudmundsson, who founded the Bakkavor food empire and who sat on the board of Kaupthing and Exista. He was granted loans worth 1.86 billion euros for companies linked to him and his brother.

Robert Tchenguiz, a property entrepreneur and board member of Exista, was loaned 1.74 billion euros to finance his private investments.

Kevin Stanford, the retail entrepreneur and director of House of Fraser, emerges in the document as Kaupthing’s fourth largest shareholder. He was given a 519 million euro loan to buy shares – of which 181 million euros were in Kaupthing itself, using those same shares as collateral.

There is no suggestion that any of the shareholders acted illegally, the newspaper said.

As seen in New York Times online. Thanks to New York Times for covering this issue. Copyright remains with the aforementioned.